1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting structure for a windshield wiper for a vehicle, such as an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A vehicle, such as an automobile, is generally provided with a wiper for removing rain drops, dust or the like on the windshield. The wiper comprises a wiper arm connected to a wiper shaft rotatably mounted on the vehicle body and a wiper blade which is connected to the wiper arm.
The wiper blade is connected to the wiper arm in such a manner as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 for example. The wiper arm 1 has a curved portion 2 which is formed by curving the tip of the wiper arm 1. The curved portion 2 is connected to a central portion of the wiper blade 3. The wiper blade 3 has a pair of frames 4, 4 at the central portion. A clip 5 made of resin is positioned between the frames 4 and is mounted on the frames 4 through a rivet 6 (refer to Japanese Laid Open Utility Model Publication No. 62-202462).
The curved portion 2 of the wiper arm 1 is elastically connected with the clip 5 in such a manner that the curved portion 2 of the wiper arm 1 engages a portion of the clip 5. The clip 5, 1 as shown in FIG. 3, comprises a pair of wall portions 7, 7 in contact with the frames 4, 4 of wiper blade 3, a clip body 8 which is U-shaped in longitudinal section and is positioned between the wall portions 7, 7, an elastic plate 9 positioned on the lower side in FIG. 3 and integrally joined to the clip body 8, and a click 10 formed on the lower side of the clip body 8. The click 10 is formed to fit into a opening 11 provided in the curved portion 2.
Consequently, when the curved portion 2 of the wiper arm 1 engages the clip body 8 as illustrated in FIG. 3, the click 10 of the clip 5 is elastically engaged in the opening 11 of the curved portion 2 through the elastic plate 9. When the elastic plate 9 is pressed in the upper direction as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2, the click 10 disengages the opening 11 of the curved portion 2 and the wiper arm 1 come off the clip 5.
However, in the above conventional mounting structure for a wiper for a vehicle, the width D1 of the curved portion 2 of the wiper arm 1 is smaller than the width D2 between the two wall portions 7, 7. Therefore, a gap P occurs between the curved portion 2 of the wiper arm 1 and the wall portion 7, 7 of the clip 5, and the gap P causes the wiper arm 1 to wobble as illustrated by the angle Q in FIG. 1.
When the wiper blade 3 is detached from the wiper arm 1, it is necessary to press the elastic plate 9 of the clip 5 in the direction indicated by the arrow. In that case, the operation is not smooth because it is difficult to identify the portion of the elastic plate 9 or the like.